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ContextPreclinical studies suggest that estrogen affects neural structure and function in mature animals; clinical studies are less conclusive with many, but not all, studies showing a positive influence of estrogen on verbal memory in postmenopausal women.ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of estrogen on brain activation patterns in postmenopausal women as they performed verbal and nonverbal working memory tasks.DesignRandomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial from 1996 through 1998.SettingCommunity volunteers tested in a hospital setting.PatientsForty-six postmenopausal women aged 33 to 61 years (mean [SD] age, 50.8 [4.7] years).InterventionTwenty-one-day treatment with conjugated equine estrogens, 1.25 mg/d, randomly crossed over with identical placebo and a 14-day washout between treatments.Main Outcome MeasuresBrain activation patterns measured using functional …